Aerating means for contact masses



Patented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AERATING MEANS roa CONTACT MASSES Application October 17, 1931, Serial No. 569,530 1 12 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus in which fluids, such as hydrocarbons, in liquid, vaporous or gaseous form, are subjected to decomposition, reaction, or transformation, in the presence of a contact mass, such mass serving in the capacity of a catalyst, an absorbent, or simply as a depository for a product of the chemical operation.

In most operations of the kind in question the contact mass becomes contaminated or impregnated with some impurity or some decomposition product derived from the material under treatment, which is either deposited therein, absorbed or adsorbed thereby, or chemically combined therewith, and in order that the contact mass may be maintained in or restored to effective condition it has been customary to cleanse or reactivate it periodically. In many cases this can be effected without removing the mass from the chamber in which it is used, by passing through the mass some gas, such as oxygen or hydrogen, which will oxidize or otherwise aifect the contaminating matter and remove it in gaseous form. The reaction so performed usually requires an elevated temperature, but where it is exothermic, as is usually thecase, such temperature will be maintained automatically in the mass, if provision is made to avoid undue chilling of any part of the mass during the reactivation. 4

As a simple and effective means for reactivating a contact mass rapidly, it has been proposed to utilize one or more tubes through which the reactivating gas may be introduced into the reaction chamber in proximity to the contact mass. Where the reaction is exothermic it is most economical to introduce the gas without preliminary heating, and in some cases it is even necessary to do so, and to use a large volume of cold gas, diluted with inert gas such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide, in order to absorb the heat due to the reaction and prevent undue rise of temperature in the mass. In such cases, however, the part of the inlet tube at which the gas is introduced is cooled to such a degree, by the volume of cool gas passing through it to the remoter parts of the tube, that the contiguous parts of the contact mass may be prevented from ever attaining a temperature high enough to permit the reactivating reaction, and the efllciencyof the mass is thus impaired.

One object of the present invention is to minimize or entirely to avoid the chilling effect just described, and for this purpose it is proposed to introduce the g s into the inlet tube through an inner perforated conduit, from which thegas is discharged into the tube. With this arrangment the entering gas picks up heat from the contact mass by radiation and by contact with the walls of the inner conduit before it is admitted to the tube, and thus the temperature of the tube remains or tends to remain uniform, and little or no local chilling of the contact mass is caused. Other objects will be apparent from the detailed description which follows.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view'of a chamber containing a contact mass and provided with means, in accordance with the present invention, for introducing reactivating gases, and Fig. 2 is a detail view, on a larger scale and partly in horizontal section, showing the construction adjacent the inlet end of one of the inlet tubes.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in apparatus in which a sheet-metal casing 5 provides a chamber enclosing a contact mass 6, which may be granulated fullers earth or such other granular or porous matter as is suitable for the chemical operation in question. The chamber is divided, for convenience, by vertical partitions 7, but these are provided with upper and lower vents 8 and 10 to permit free lateral communication at the top and bottom of the chamber. A perforated plate or false bottom 9 supports the contact mass and provides a clear space at the bottom of the chamber. Vents 11 and 12 may be used to introduce and remove the fluids passed through the chamber, but during the reactivating operation they serve as out- .lets for spent gases, as indicated by arrows.

A vertical series of tubular conduits 13 is shown, these conduits being connected, by unions 14, with a header 15 through which the reactivating gases are supplied. The inlet tubes 16- are perforated at short intervals and fixed in concentric relation with the conduits 13. To facilitate construction and repair of the structure, the inlet tubes have imperforate outer ends which, as shown in Fig. 2, are sealed gas-tight, by Welding or otherwise, at their outer ends to the conduits 13, and the ends of the tubes project outwardly through tubulures 18 in the Wall of the chamber, gas-tight connections at these points being made by gland-nuts 17. This arrangement makes it possible to introduce or withdraw each inlet tube and its conduit as a unitary structure. As indicated, the partitions 7 have openings aligned with-tubulures 18 so as to serve as spacing guides and supports for tubular conduits 13.

It will be apparent that the reactivating gases will be in heat exchange relation with the contact mass while they are in conduits 13 and will emerge through the perforations therein in a partly heated state to pass directly to and through the perforations in the inlet tubes 16. Therefore, each part of the latter is subjected to the cooling action of only the relatively small portion of the total volume of the already partially heated gases which passes through the perforations in such part, and the tubes may therefore maintain a uniformly high temperature favorable to the reaction.

The invention claimed is:

1. In combination with a chamber adapted to contain a contact mass and provided with an opening in its wall, means, for introducing reactivating gases to the chamber, comprising an elongated conduit perforated at intervals, an outer tube making a gas-tight joint with the conduit at the inlet end of the latter, the outer tube being foraminous'throughout the portion enclosed within the chamber, the inlet end of the inner tube and the adjacent end of the outer tube projecting through said opening in the wall of the chamber, and disengageable means for making a gas-tight joint between said wall and said end of the outer tube.

2. The combination with a contact mass of regenerating apparatus therefor comprising a tubular member having closed ends disposed within said mass and having openings throughout its length for discharging a regenerating medium directly into said mass, and a conduit extending through one of said closed ends and within said member for supplying said medium to the interior of said member.

3. The combination with a contact mass of regenerating apparatus therefor comprising a conduit for a regenerating medium extending within said mass and a distributing member for said medium enclosing and in spaced relation to said conduit, said conduit and said member being secured together at one end for insertion and removal as a unit, said member having openings for distributing the medium uniformly to the full depth of the contact mass.

4. The combination with a contact mass of regenerating apparatus therefor comprising a conduit for a regenerating medium extending into said mass and a tubular member of larger diameter than said conduit and perforated throughout its length in telescoping relation with said conduit for keeping said mass out of contact with said conduit, said member and said conduit being secured to each other in a manner to close one end of said member and to permit their insertion and removal as a unit. I

5. The combination with a chamber for a contact mass having uniformly spaced openings in the walls thereof, of a series of conduit units for insertion into said chamber through said openings, each of said units comprising inner and outer tubular members in telescoping relation, each of said members having openings throughout the length thereof, said members of each unit being secured together so as to provide therebetween an annular chamber of uniform size closed at both ends.

6. In combination, a casing providing a chamber for a contact mass and having a series of openings in one wall thereof, a series of conduit units for insertion into said chamber through said openings and to be embedded in the contact mass, each of said units comprising nested conduits for establishing communication with said chamber, and means including tubulures on said casing and disengageable members making fluid tight connection of said units to said casing at said openings but permitting individual removal and replacement of said units.

7. Conduit means for a regenerating medium adapted for insertion as a unit into a mass of contact material, said means comprising tubular members in nested telescoped relation providing therebetween an annular chamber of uniform size andsubstantiallength,saidmembersbeing secured together so as to close the ends of said chamber, said members having ports therethrough distributed throughout the length of said chamber.

8. In combination a casing having an apertured false bottom defining a bottom chamber, vertical partitions dividing the space above said false bottom into a series of separate chambers in communication with one another through said bottom chamber, a contact mass disposed in each of said last named chambers, and a unit for distributing fluid extending from the exterior of said easing into the latter and penetrating the contact masses in the chambers defined by said vertical partitions, said unit comprising nested perforated conduits, the inner of said conduits serving as the sole source of fluid supply to said unit.

9. A casing providing a series of chambers each containing a contact mass, and means common to all said chambers for simultaneously and uniformly distributing a regenerating medium through said masses comprising a series of units formed of nested perforated conduits, said units individually removable from said casing and having fluid-tight connection with the letter.

10. In combination, a casing containing a contact mass, a partition dividing said contact mass, said casing having openings in one wall thereof and said partition having openings in line with said wall openings, and a series of fluid distributing units secured in said wall openings in a fluid-tight manner and extending into said mass for distributing fluid uniformly therein, each of said units comprising nested perforated conduits, the inner of said conduits only being connected to a source of fluid, said units extending through and slidably received by said partition openings.

11. A regenerative fluid conducting unit adapted to be embedded in a mass of contact material, said unit comprising a tubular member having. closed ends and openings at intervals throughout its length, and a conduit entering through one of said closed ends of said tubular member and joined to said member at said end, said conduit extending within said member to a point adjacent the other closed end of said member and having openings establishing communication with the annular space formed between said conduit and said member.

12. A regenerative fluid conducting and distributing unit adapted to be embedded in a contact mass comprising outer and inner conduits secured together in nested telescoping relation,

said outer conduit having closed ends and openings in its sides uniformly spaced throughout the length thereof for discharging the fluid'directly into the contact mass, said inner conduit entering said outer conduit through one of the closed ends thereof and serving as the sole means for supplying fluid to the interior J said outer conduit.

EUGENE J. HOUDRY. 

